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For the 2nd year in a row you will help us select the Burlington Slam Project team to represent us on the regional & national stage. Although last year’s team was Burlington’s first, they placed 4th in a field of 18 and made to the finals stage. So this year’s team has big shoes to fill.

As usual, there will be a $5 cover charge and festivities will kick off @ 8pm with sign-up for the open mic. Seeing as this is the finals it is a closed slam. Our guest hosted will be, Toronto Poetry Slam’s, Dave “BIG DEAL” Silverberg. In BSP tradition, we will forgo a feature so we can cram in more awesome local poets with a 3 round slam! As usual, the money that would normally go toward the feature will help the team cover the cost of attending the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word.

Also, this month we will be revealing the winner of our Logo contest. The winner’s submission will be the new BSP logo and will get $75 CASH!!

Sorry for the delay in posting this months wrap-up but life is crazy sometimes.

Well let’s jump right into it: It was another banner night for the Burlington Slam Project. I walked in at 10 to 8 and we were already 3/4 full! There were lots of new faces as well as some old faces we hadn’t seen in a while (Great to see you again Michelle!). Surprisingly, our resident Robert Service enthusiast, Rick Harret, wasn’t there to fulfill his honour as the first person to the open mic. So instead Tomy shared a new piece. We were all wowed by Dan who gave an outstanding performance of an “Ode to my voice”.

The slam was full of BSP regulars, as well as some visitors. Jillian Christmas once again entralled us with her smooth and sultry voice weaving tales of love. Kiki gave us a new piece from the prospective of a protective mother wanting nothing more than to keep her child safe. Badass (AKA Beth Anne Fischer from the Guelph Spoken Word troup) made her first appearance at Burlington a memorable one. So did Brendan with a piece about sexual ambiguity.

The Real Pile was the real deal. They blended folk music with poetry. And while each woman on the team had their own style and flavour, they were still very much a team. There were only 2 or 3 awkward pauses. But that’s just because this was their first time performing together as an ensemble.

In the end, Truth Is… took home the cash winnings and almost fell for the trappings of using a microphone (oh no!). All the slammers did a great job despite MANY large time penalties. Damn that rat bastard time keeper for spoiling all our fun. But alas, it was worth it!

Don’t forget that next month is finals night where we select the Burlington Slam Project Team we will be sending to CFSW in Ottawa in October.

Thursday April 15th

*Featuring C.R. Avery*

When: Thursday Apr. 15th. Sign-up @ 8pm with Open Mic and then Poetry Slam to follow

Why: Aside from winning a cash prize, February through May are the months to qualify for the team we will be sending to the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word (CFSW) in Ottawa this October.

Cost: We ask for a $5 donation to cover the cost of our feature performer and the prize money.

Beatbox poet, harmonica madman, C.R. Avery has lived in Vancouver. He is a unique performer, simultaneously singing, beatboxing, playing harmonica and playing guitar. He performs solo or with his band and has played onstage with Tom Waits, Ani DiFranco, The Be Good Tanyas, and Utah Phillips, among others. A top performer in the slam poetry scene, C.R. is in the poetry super group known as “Tons Of Fun University” (TOFU) with the Mighty Mike McGee and the incomparable Shane Koyczan (The guy who did the opening at the 2010 Winter Olympics).

When: Thursday Feb. 25th. Sign-up @ 8pm with Open Mic and then Poetry Slam to follow

Cost: We ask for a $5 donation to cover the cost of our feature performer and the prize money.

Our feature this month will be the 2009 Capital (Ottawa) Slam Team. Comprised of Emcee E (Ian Keteku), OpenSecret,(Ikenna Onyegbula), Poetic Speed (Komi Olafimihan), Brandon Wint, and Rusty Priske the Capital Slam team went on to win the national championship of the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word (CFSW) in Victoria, BC this past fall. CFSW 2010 will be held in Ottawa. So we thought we’d bring the reigning champs to Burlington to show us how it’s done. because this will the 1st month to qualify for the Burlington 2010 team we will sending to CFSW 2010!

If you think you’re up for competing on a National stage in the nations capital and meeting some incredible people & artists from across the country; then this IS where you want to be once a month on Thursday night!

The Burlington Slam Project will be hosting another event. Show & sign-up early for the poetry slam or open mic if you’re interested. Once the sign-up is done we kick things off with our open mic followed by the slam proper.

This month’s feature is Ntare Ali Gault. He is a slam poet, actor, playwright, and author of the book “The Sun Will Rise: A Memoir of an Urban family”. He is one of Buffalo’s best and we are privileged to have him.

As usual, we will be asking for $5 donation to cover the costs of our feature and the cash prize for the winner of the poetry slam.